Story A Day In May - Story 11

 This one is very short. Mostly dialog. I am imagining a short video

The Voice

by J. Smith Kirkland

The phone rings. It's Charlie checking up to see how Jim is doing since the flood, and then the killer hornets, and then the flu all turned his town into an unapproachable island of disasters.

“They say the flood waters should start receding sometime next week, if the rain holds off.”

“That's great, Charlie, maybe everyone will have lived through the flu by then, but we still can't go out without being attacked by hornets.”

The conversation is interrupted when an urgent cry comes bellowing from the kitchen and over to Jim.

“The Turkey! It's going to burn!”

“It still has 30 more minutes. It's fine.”

“Are your sure?”

“Yes, Raymond, I am sure. Anyway, Charlie, have they said anything about the hornets?”

“Yeh, they were hoping if they got all of the queens last week, that this worker bunch would just die out from lack of coordination, but now they are not sure.”

Another interruption, “Are you going to talk on the phone all night? You know you could be spending this time writing or doing something productive.”

“Shut up, Ralph. I have plenty of time to talk on the phone. I wrote all morning. Remember?”

“I’m Hungry!”

“Shut up, Bubba, You ate 20 minutes ago."

Charlie thought Jim was all alone at his place. Sounds like others from town are staying with him, and maybe wearing out their welcome.

“Who are your talking to? Are there other people staying in your house?”

“No, just the voices in my head.”

“You give them names?”

“Makes it easier to keep them straight. I was just calling them Panic, Guilt, and Gluttony, but Raymond, Ralph, and Bubba seemed more appropriate.”

The Prompt

Restricted and augmented lifestyles in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic may have us writer-types writing more than ever–a silver lining.

But have you stopped to consider how your protagonist(s) might respond to a similar situation?

In the midst of an emergency situation, whom would they seek to protect? How would they behave if confined?

If sharing close quarters with others, what might be said or done that otherwise might not be, and what might be the repercussions?

How might the situation bring out the best in them all–and the worst?

If the exercise brings up interesting ideas, can you create an emergency situation as a part of your story in order to bring your characters to that place organically?

Story A Day Framework

just wrote.